Ethnography of Travel
Honors 394, Spring 2011
A prequel to the teaching style and classroom dynamics that were to come during my study abroad were slowly cultivated in this class as my cohort grew to know each other. This class began to explore the "here, there, us, them" that undoubtedly followed us all throughout Bangalore. We explored the meanings of travel, culture, and interpretation and dissemination of experience through several authors, research papers, and even travel blogs. This course stretched my thinking in a way that was completely unfathomable to me before. As intimidated as I was to get talking in a class ran by an English/CHID professor, laden with several of her veteran students, when I got going I could not stop.
Two hours long and twice a week, yet I always left class feeling like I still had so much to say. My mind yearned and writhed for discussion as I would leave the safety net of my cohort only to be caught by the cold grasp of a materials characterization class. As talkative as I was in my International Human Rights course, never have I ever had to "step down" as many times as I did in this class. I always had something to say-- regardless of my lack of collegiate dictionary words and knowledge of this "canon" of authors they always referred to. I grew so comfortable in the skin that this class imbibed me with that it was one of the biggest factors that kept me going during the +4 in Bangalore. My artifact is reminiscent of this sentiment. This letter that we wrote as part of our final for this course was later given to us during our first day of class abroad. After surviving the near-death-experience of crossing a street in Bangalore and feeling homesick I sorely wanted to leave. This letter saved me. Everything that I worried about was addressed in the letter. Never before have I been so grateful for an assignment or so happy that I have some clairvoyant skill. |
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